Riobard and all,   When Meriam and I first went to Ireland in 1963, we took a CIE bus tour around the south, and southwest. On the fourth day,while staying in Killarney, they gave us a day off to wander by ourselves. I had prepared ahead of time by writing and talking to the old folks in the family to find out where the Sullivans came from. My grandfather Had emigrated in the 1850's and grandma 10 years later. They were married in Houghton, Michigan. I learned that the old folks used to correspond, way back, with people in Allihies and Gortahig   So Meriam and I rented a Renault Dauphine, got a map and headed for ALLIHIES. We went thru Kenmare and followed the coast down to Eyeries. We stopped in the church, lit a candle and said a prayer for the grandparents. From there we went to Castletownbere and then down to Allihies. There we stopped at the church and repeated the prayers. Leaving the church, we went into a small pub/grocery store close by. It was run by Paddy O'Sullivan and his wife, Peg. We told him we were looking for family; that my Dad's name was Paddy and his father was Jerry, who had emigrated. They took us into the living room just alongside the bar and store room. Paddy asked what the branch name was. I did not know what he was talking about. He explained about branch names and said if we did not have that, we could never trace the family He said his branch name was Rua.   Back home, I called my Dad and asked him. He said that way back in the mine where his dad worked, he was called Jerry the Rock, by his Irish friends. I wrote to Paddy Rua and told him. He wrote back and said he thought that was derived from Rockthalia. He did not know any, and guessed that they all must have emigrated.   Twenty two years later, on my 3rd trip, I met Riobard O'Dwyer. He immediately corrected me and told me the name was Rochtirre, and that there were Rochtirres still in Beara. I subsequently met two families.   You know me. I could go on and on. We have been to Beara about 15 more times since. Thanks to Riobard, we learned a lot more about the O'Sullivan Rochtirre's and grandma's family the Harrington Caobach's of Cahirkeem.    Bill Sullivan --- On Sat, 2/28/09, Riobard O'Dwyer <beararesearchodwyer@eircom.net> wrote: From: Riobard O'Dwyer <beararesearchodwyer@eircom.net> Subject: [BEARA] Continued. To: beara@rootsweb.com Date: Saturday, February 28, 2009, 7:07 AM There were cases, especially where there were many Sullivans, of adding mothers' Christian names to their sons' Christian names e.g. Paddy Biddy, Tim Katty. The job a man had was often added on to his Christian name e.g. Paddy the Ambulance, Mick the Cooper (a cooper made hoops for barrels), Paddy the Baker, Sean Saw Bheara (he was in charge of a big sawmill). There were Christian names with miscellaneous connections. One was Donal a Bhearla ---- Donal (or Daniel) of the English Language. In those days people in that particular part of the Parish spoke all Irish (Gaelic), and Donal was the only person there who could speak a little of the English Language. Hence his "christening". There was a well-known man known as Donal na Slinne ---- Daniel of the slate (slinn is the Gaelic for slate). Donal was the first man in the Parish to put a slate roof on his house. Up to then, all the roofs were made of thatch. Christian names associated with Feast Days: Catherine (January 31st when people made the "rounds" saying decades of the Rosary in a field in which there was a Holy Well. The ancient name for the Eyeries Parish ---- the Parish of Catherine ---- is from the Church of Catherine. Cill is an old Irish name for a Church. St.Brigid's Day was February 1st ; of course St. Patrick's Day, March 17th. St. Quinlan's Day, July 8th. The Sullivans/O'Sullivans are the most numerous family in the Beara Peninsula, so we will deal with them first. They were driven out of their territory in South Tipperary by the Normans around 1200 and moved principally to South Kerry and West Cork. What were known as the O'Sullivan Mor settled around the Kenmare-Killarney area and right up along the Iveragh Peninsula from Kenmare to Cahirciveen. They also moved across to the Bantry area. A section of them settled in the Beara Peninsula, and that's why they are known as O'Sullivan Bere/Beare. Unless a person is extremely experenced with the several Branch-Names into which the surname became of necessity divided (and put down as such in Church Records), it would be as difficult to find one as searching for a needle in a haystack. There wouldn't be much sense in arriving here and saying "My great-grandfather was Patrick Sullivan from somewhere in the Beara" and having very little more information. There were hundr! eds of Patrick Sullivans. But if you had the good fortune of hearing somewhere that your ancestor was known as Paddy Mike Dan, or Patsy Cohu, or Patie Ukirre, then you might have a much better chance of tracing him. The maiden name of his ancestors' mother, and if he had any names of any brothers or sisters of his ancestors (and their approx. dates or years of birth) could come in handy. A few weeks ago, a man who had more or less given up all hopes of tracing his ancestors got in touch with me, and within a day I had found them. The lady ancestor wasn't under Sullivan at all --- but under a Sullivan Branch-Name. But, unfortunately, I won't be alive for ever. Anyhow, one happy man has written to the Parish Priest for Baptism Certs for his ancestors, The Catholic births weren't registered in Ireland until from January 1st 1864 on, but his ancestors were born prior to that. To be continued. ---- Riobard. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to BEARA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message